Alpert Medical School has undertaken curriculum redesign over the past four years. The courses listed below represent the requirements for the current first and second year classes. Students in prior classes have been required to complete equivalent coursework. However, course titles and numbers have changed. Thus, the section below reflects the present configuration of pre-clinical courses.

First Year, First Semester 

*Note that Anatomy continues into second semester. Final grades will be completed at the end of January when this course is completed.

First Year, Second Semester 

Second Year, First Semester 

Second Year, Second Semester 

Further Requirements for the Awarding of the MD Degree

• Every candidate for the degree of Doctor of Medicine must satisfactorily complete the 8 quarters comprising Years 3 and 4 as a matriculated medical student at Brown University. This does not preclude away electives. Students may also use time in addition to the 8 quarters for fellowship, leave of absence, and/or additional degrees.

• A candidate for the degree of Doctor of Medicine must complete all the requirements for that degree within six years of admission to the medical school (nine years for M.D./Ph.D. candidates). Exceptions to this rule may be made only with the consent of the Medical Committee on Academic standing (MCAS).

• The MCAS shall recommend granting of the medical degree to candidates who have fulfilled the academic requirements.

• Students will be allowed to receive their diploma only if all tuition and fees have been fully paid and other obligations fulfilled, such as return of keys and library books, repayment of emergency short-term loans, etc.

• Medical students may not take the USMLE Step 1 examination until they have successfully completed all preclinical courses.  Beginning with the MD Class of 2014, medical students must pass the USMLE Step 1 examination prior to graduation.  This requires that students take the exam by December 1 of their final year of medical school so as to have sufficient time to retake the exam, if necessary. Students will be permitted to take the Step 1 examination no more than three times.  Any exceptions to these rules will be made at the discretion of the Associate Dean for Medical Education.

• All medical students must take the USMLE Step 2CK examination prior to December 1 of their final year.  All students must take Step 2CS no later than two weeks prior to graduation.  Because of limited site and date availability, students are strongly advised to register for the examination during the spring of Year 3 and take the examination during the fall of Year 4. 

For other pertinent policies, see Section V—Academic Standing and Promotion.

Course of Study—3rd and 4th Years

The 3rd and 4th Years of the medical curriculum are considered a single 80-week continuum. Students schedule their course of study individually through a computerized clerkship assignment process that takes place in the spring of the second and third year. There are approximately 100 weeks available between the start of the first clerkship block and the Friday before graduation in May of the fourth year. It is during this period of time that may schedule their courses and vacation. All students must complete at least 80 weeks of instruction. Most students exceed this minimum requirement.

The following represent the requirements for Years 3 and 4:

80 weeks minimum total (70 weeks of which must be taken at Brown)
12 weeks, Clerkship in Medicine
8 weeks, Clerkship in Surgery
6 weeks, Clerkship in Obstetrics and Gynecology
6 weeks, Clerkship in Pediatrics
6 weeks, Clerkship in Psychiatry
6 weeks, Clerkship in Family Medicine
6 weeks, Clerkship in Community Health
30 weeks or more of Electives (20 weeks of which must be taken at Brown)

The 30 weeks or more of electives must include:

1. 8 weeks or more of clinical electives under the direct, personal supervision of Brown faculty (so-called “selectives”)
2. 4 weeks of a subinternship*
3. 4 weeks of a surgery or surgery-related elective (a surgery subinternship fulfills both this requirement and the sub-internship requirement)*
4. 6-month or longer longitudinal ambulatory clerkship, one half day per week (2.4 weeks of credit for a 6 month clerkship)*

* These electives count toward the 8-week selective requirement if they are done at Brown.

Beginning with the MD Class of 2013, the required clerkships in medicine, surgery, pediatrics, ob/gyn, psychiatry and family medicine must be completed no later than the end of Quarter 5a. Community Health must be completed prior to March of their final year. These requirements may change for subsequent classes based on an ongoing curriculum redesign process.

Medical students as professionals in training have the responsibility of reporting daily to their clerkships for their assignments. In the event a student has to be absent from the clerkship, the student has the obligation to discuss such absences with the clerkship director and any faculty members or preceptors to whom the student is assigned.

Students may obtain prior approval from the clerkship director for absences necessitated by residency interviews or professional meetings at which the student is making a presentation. Should a student and clerkship director disagree on the validity of a request for approved absence, the Associate Dean for Medical Education should be consulted.

Sick days also require notification of the clerkship director, although this notification may be retroactive, when appropriate. Up to two days of excused absence (sick day or otherwise) do not require that the student arrange to make up the missed time. Absences, for any reason, of more than two days require that the student make up this time in a manner that can be accommodated by the clerkship. Students missing more than 5 days from a rotation, including the 2 excused days, may be required to repeat the clerkship.

Students are required to complete a Longitudinal Ambulatory Clerkship (LAC) in their last two years of medical school. The LAC must be of six months duration and must consist of one-half day per week at a single outpatient site. For every ten weeks of longitudinal experience (based on one-half day per week), one week credit will be counted towards the required 80 clinical weeks. Additional months may be taken at the same or other sites.

Students are required to complete a Longitudinal Ambulatory Clerkship (LAC) in their last two years of medical school. The LAC must be of six months duration and must consist of one-half day per week at a single outpatient site. For every ten weeks of longitudinal experience (based on one-half day per week), one week credit will be counted towards the required 80 clinical weeks. Additional months may be taken at the same or other sites.

1. Consider when the best time might be to begin your LAC. The minimum six month requirement can be fulfilled anytime during your third or fourth year and may be interrupted. However, it may not be condensed. It must last for six months or 24 weeks to fulfill the requirement. If you intend to do the six month minimum, you will get the most out of your LAC by taking it after you have completed all or most of the core clerkships. This usually means taking it in the beginning of your last year (July-December).
2. If your LAC will run concurrently with a core clerkship, carefully review that clerkship's "don't miss" times in the clerkship (see below). Working with your LAC supervisor, try to develop a satisfactory schedule. Scheduling of core clerkship requirements takes precedence over LAC activities. Since one of the goals of the LAC is seeing patients in follow-up, advance planning is critical. LAC scheduling options may include changing the half-day period, starting your half-day at a different time, or scheduling LAC activities for less often than every week. The responsibility for advance planning rests on your shoulders, so plan ahead!
3. Speak directly to the clerkship director whose clerkship will run concurrently with your LAC at least FIVE WEEKS IN ADVANCE. Let the clerkship director know what your plans are and see if he or she has any other suggestions. If you have planned carefully, the clerkship director should be agreeable with your plan. If the clerkship director offers you an alternative suggestion and you can reasonably accommodate that alternative, then you should adopt that plan instead.
4. With advanced planning and good faith on the part of all concerned, everything should work out fine. However, if you and the clerkship director are unable to reach a mutually acceptable plan, then you should contact the Associate Dean for Medical Education who will help to identify a solution.

Details and forms required for planning your LAC can be found at the MD Curriculum, Years 3 and 4, web site: http://brown.edu/academics/medical/education/clinical-curriculum-overview/longitudinal-ambulatory-clerkship

Students must include at least four weeks of an approved subinternship within the clinical course of study. This may be taken at Brown (in which case it counts toward the eight-week selective requirement) or elsewhere. It is expected that the relevant core clerkship in medicine, surgery, or pediatrics will be completed prior to undertaking a subinternship in that discipline.